Thermo-Mechanical Analysis of Dissimilar Al/Cu Foil Single Lap Joints Made by Composite Metal Foil Manufacturing

The paper presents an additive manufacturing process for the production of metal and composite parts. It is termed as composite metal foil manufacturing and is a combination of laminated object manufacturing and brazing techniques. The process has been described in detail and is being used to produce dissimilar aluminum to copper foil single lap joints. A three dimensional finite element model has been developed to study the thermo-mechanical characteristics of the dissimilar Al/Cu single lap joint. The effects of thermal stress and strain have been analyzed by carrying out transient thermal analysis on the heated plates used to join the two 0.1mm thin metal foils. Tensile test has been carried out on the foils before joining and after the single Al/Cu lap joints are made, they are subjected to tensile lap-shear test to analyze the effect of heat on the foils. The analyses are designed to assess the mechanical integrity of the foils after the brazing process and understand whether or not the heat treatment has an effect on the fracture modes of the produced specimens.

• Javaid Butt
• Habtom Mebrahtu
• Hassan Shirvani

• Brazing
• Laminated Object Manufacturing
• Tensile Lap-Shear Test
• Thermo-Mechanical Analysis.

[1] T. Wohlers, ‘‘Wohlers Report 2011 State of the Industry, Annual Worldwide Progress Report. Wohlers Associates,’’ 2011, pp. 22-35.
[2] W. Cheng, J. Y. H. Fuh, A. Y. C. Nee, Y. S. Wong, H. T. Loh, T. Miyazawa, ‘‘Multi-objective optimization of part building orientation in stereolithography,’’ Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. 1 (4), pp. 12–23, 1995.
[3] K. Renap, J. P. Kruth, ‘‘Recoating issues in stereolithography,’’ Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. 1 (3), pp. 4–16, 1995.
[4] P. M. Dickens, ‘‘Research developments in rapid prototyping,’’ Proceedings IMechE, Journal of Engineering Manufacture, Part B, vol. 209, pp. 261–266, 1995.
[5] A. Gaard, P. Krakhmalev, J. Bergstrom, ‘‘Microstructural characterization and wear behaviour of (Fe, Ni) – TiC MMC prepared by DMLS,’’ Journal of Alloys & Compounds, vol. 421 (1–2), pp. 166–71, 2006.
[6] F. Calignano, D. Manfredi, E.P. Ambrosio, L. Iuliano, P. Fino, ‘‘Influence of process parameters on surface roughness of aluminum parts produced by DMLS,’’ International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, vol. 67 (9–12), pp. 2743–2751, 2013.
[7] J. Butt, H. Mebrahtu, H. Shirvani, ‘‘Rapid prototyping by heat diffusion of metal foil and related mechanical testing,’’ International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, pp. 1-10, 2015. DOI: 10.1007/s00170-015-7882-8.
[8] J. Butt, H. Mebrahtu, H. Shirvani, ‘‘A novel rapid prototyping process for the production of metal parts,’’ In: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Advances in Civil, Structural and Mechanical Engineering - CSM, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 2014, pp. 26-29. DOI: 10.15224/ 978-1-63248-054-5-45.
[9] J. Butt, H. Mebrahtu, H. Shirvani, ‘‘Peel and tensile test investigation of aluminium 1050 foil parts made with a new additive manufacturing process’’, Int. J. Rapid Manufacturing, Vol. 5, No.1, pp.95–115, 2015. DOI: 10.1504/IJRAPIDM.2015.073550.
[10] BS EN 1465: 2009. Adhesives—Determination of tensile lap-shear strength of bonded assemblies.
[11] BS EN ISO 10365:1995. Adhesives—Designation of main failure patterns.